Mumbai: Hosts Dabang Mumbai defeated Uttar Pradesh Wizards 6-3 at the Mahindra Hockey Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday to keep their maiden semi-final berth hopes alive in the Coal India Hockey India League (HIL).
With this win Mumbai finish the group stage with 25 points from 10 games while Wizards have 24 points.
The first quarter began with Mumbai playing attacking hockey and pressing hard to score. They got success through a stunning field goal in the 13th minute from Gurjant Singh, taking a 2-0 lead at the first quarter.
Each field goal is counted as two goals in the tournament.
The second quarter began with the ball possession shifting to the Wizards. The visitors made some good moves but could not convert. The Wizards, however, did not lose hope and kept on pressing hard.
Their efforts yielded a result in the form of a penalty corner in the 19th minute, and VR Raghunath made no mistake in converting it into a goal, reducing the score to 2-1.
Wizards who were playing attacking hockey in the second quarter struck for the second time through a field goal from Chinglensana Singh in the last minute of the second quarter, giving Wizards a 3-2 lead.
The first half came to an end with the score board reading 3-2 in favour of Wizards.
Both the teams tried hard to score in the third quarter.
Wizard, however, could not sustain their lead for long, as one brilliant move from Mumbai in the 42nd minute resulted in a spectacular field goal from star German forward Florian Fuchs.
The third quarter ended with Mumbai leading 4-3 in the match.
Mumbai extended their lead in the final quarter, in the 59th minute, through another field goal from Affan Yousuf, taking the score board to 6-3 ensuring the hosts keep their hopes of making semi-finals alive.
The last league match of the HIL will be played between Delhi Waveriders and Kalinga Lancers on Wednesday.
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